Our Lessons

SYMBOLISM OF THE CRYPTIC DEGREES

This section is taken freely from Mackey's Symbolism as written in Chapter XXXI of
"The History of the Cryptic Rite." It is not written verbatim, but rather was
adapted to the form of our present day ritual. Symbolism from other authors has been
incorporated. It is the belief of the Grand Council, that if our members understand the
beautiful symbolism of our Order, they will become better members of their subordinate
Councils. We encourage you to study and learn more about our great Order, as it is not
possible to include everything of interest or importance in this brief synopsis. We learn
in the Royal Master degree, that there was an agreement among our three Most Excellent
Grand Masters, that the word would not be communicated to the Craft until the Temple was
completed, and then only in the presence of all three. We learn in the Master Mason
degree, how the Word was lost, and in the Royal Arch degree, how it was recovered. In the
Symbolic degrees, we have an account of the loss of the Word, and we search but do not
find. In the Chapter, we search and find, but do not understand the significance of what
we have found. It is left to the Cryptic degrees for enlightenment and explanation, to
learn how the Word was preserved, and what it means. In the Royal Master degree, we learn
that whatever may be the uncertainties of life, the reward is sure to the faithful
Craftsman. In the Select degree, we learn that the Word is to be preserved in the Secret
Vault of the Soul. While in the Super Excellent Master degree, we find that catastrophe
overtakes the unfaithful, whether he be a prince or pauper, and that without fidelity,
success is impossible.

ROYAL MASTER

This degree is held in the Council Chamber, and represents the private apartment of
King Solomon, in which he is said to have met for consultation with his two colleagues
during the construction of the Temple. Its symbolic colors are black and red -- the former
being significant of grief and the latter of martyrdom -- and both referring to the chief
builder of the Temple. The period of time referred to in the first and second sections of
the degree is different. In the first section, Hiram Abif is active in the construction of
the Temple. In the second section, he is missing and the Temple is very near completion.
This is evident by the presence of the Ark of the Covenant and the investiture of Adoniram
with the responsibility of the Master Builder. His search is not complete as he is
instructed that in due time he will receive his reward, and is returned to the Clay
Grounds to continue his labors. The Beautiful Piece of Work (brought up by Adoniram),
represents a pure and complete life, offered to the Supreme Architect of the Universe,
followed by an admonition to remain content and in due time we shall receive our reward.
The reward will come after our life has been completed, and is further symbolized by our
entry into the 9th Arch, after completing all the symbolic instructions of Ancient Craft
Masonry. The 9th Arch is usually considered the symbolic Gate of Death. It is now high
twelve, an appropriate time to cease our labors and commune with the Supreme Architect of
the Universe. The number twelve is considered a sacred number in Mythology. It is
explained by some as being the product of multiplying the three sided triangle by the four
sided square. The triangle represents the three equal attributes of Deity; His
Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Omnipotence (Universal wisdom, peace, and power). Low
twelve consists of the same numbers, but represents death, or the midnight of life. Hiram
Abif passes from the spiritual trestleboard to the temporal trestleboard, where he is met
again by the eager candidate, who is still pursuing his search for Divine Truth. Then he
delivers the commentary on death, moving slowly around the room, going in the same manner
and direction as the sun. He explains that all men are equal in the eyes of God, from the
youngest Entered Apprentice, to King Solomon.

ROYAL MASTER (Second Section)

As the first light of day comes from the East, we are taught to look to the East for
enlightenment. The step symbolizes reverence toward the Alter. We alternate steps as we
pass through the degrees, up to, and including the Royal Master degree. It is believed
this has an allusion to the path of the Sun crossing the Northern and Southern Hemisphere,
between the two signs of the zodiac, Capricorn and Cancer, in a zig-zag motion. When the
two hemispheres are laid out end-to-end, with two parallel lines on the sides, it forms an
oblong square or the shape of a Lodge. In the sign, Alpha is the first, and Omega is the
last letter of the Greek alphabet, equivalent to the beginning and the end of anything.
Alpha and Omega are adapted as a symbol of Deity. This passage was at one time read from
the Apocalypse during the circumambulations, but is now read from the book of Revelations.
The equilateral triangle represents our three Grand Masters at this point in the ritual.
The broken triangle represents the allegory of life. Some must go, and other must remain
and carry on. The number seven was sacred in Hebrew scriptures and ceremonies. The seventh
day was the Sabbath day; Solomon was seven years in the building of the Temple; there are
usually seven sabbatic years; seven days usually constituted the feast periods; and seven
represents completeness. In the Temple, twelve loaves of bread (shewbread) were always
kept upon a table in the sanctuary (representing the twelve tribes of Israel). It was a
symbol of the bread of eternal life by which we are brought into the presence of God. The
principal article of furniture in the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, was the Ark of the
Covenant. It was surmounted by the Cherubim and between the wings of these fabled
characters was the Shekinah, or perpetual cloud, from which the bathkol issued when
consulted by the High Priest. The Altar of Incense was made of wood and overlaid with
gold, as was most of the furniture of the Temple. On the four corners were horns, in
shapes like those of a ram's horns. A censer was placed on the top center of the Golden
Altar, and in it sweet incense was burned every morning. On the table of Holy Vessels were
pots, shovels, basins, flesh-hooks, and fire pans, as well as all the other vessels or
utensils necessary to the services of the Altar. These were made of gold and brass.

SELECT MASTER

This degree commences with a character by the name of Zabud. Zabud was a friend of King
Solomon, and appears in several of the Masonic degrees. To most of our membership, Zabud
is but another character out of the past. Yet a reading of the Holy Scriptures reveals
that he was truly the friend and companion of King Solomon, for Zabud was one of the sons
of Nathan the Prophet. Nathan was the chief advisor of King David, and it was through the
strategy of David, Nathan, and Bath-Sheaba, that Solomon came to the throne of Israel, for
the natural heir to the throne should have been Adonijah. Zabud must have been about the
same age as Solomon, and probably frequented the Royal Court where he acquired the
friendship and favorable notice of Solomon, later developing into a friendship which
caused King Solomon to refer to Zabud as "my particular friend and favorite."
The Deputy Master refers to the number 27 which is also alluded to in the closing
ceremony. Although the closing ceremony states it a little differently, some authors
belive that 27 members were made up from one of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, the
three workmen who discovered the triangle hidden by Enoch before the flood, nine Grand
Masters of the Arches, one of whom was Ahishar, and our three Grand Masters. The Select
Master degree, or the building of the Secret Vault, took place between the first and
second sections of the Royal Master degree. This is explained by saying that the secrets
of the Select Master degree were not brought to light until long after the existence of
the Royal Master degree had been known and acknowledged. In other words, to speak only
from the traditional point of view, Select Masters had been designated, had performed the
task for which they had been selected, and had closed their labors without ever being
recognized as a class in the Temple of Solomon. Their occupation and their very existence,
according to legend, was unknown in the first Temple. Whether the punishment meted out to
Ahishar was deserved, we should not question, for the story is but a legend, teaching us
that constant watchfulness is necessary in waging the warfare of life, and only those
shall succeed who are constantly on guard. Considered simply as a historical question,
there can be no doubt of the existence of immense vaults beneath the superstructure of the
original Temple of Solomon. Legend has it that Josiah, forseeing the destruction of the
Temple, commanded the Levites to deposit the Ark of the Covenant in this vault, where it
was found by some of the workmen of Zerubbabel, at the building of the second Temple.
Masonic legend, whether authentic or not, teaches that there was an Ark in the second
Temple, but that it was neither the Ark of the Covenant, which had been in the Holy of
Holies of the first Temple, nor one that had been constructed as a substitute for it after
the building of the second Temple. It was that Ark which was presented to us in the Select
Master degree, and which, being an exact copy of the Mossical Ark, and intended to replace
it in case of its loss, is best known to Freemasonry as the Substitute Ark. In the Masonic
System there are two Temples; the first Temple in which the degrees of Ancient Craft
Masonry are concerned, and the second Temple, with which the higher degrees, especially
the Royal Arch, are related. The first Temple is symbolic of the present life; the second
Temple is symbolic of the life to come. The first Temple, the present life, must be
destroyed; on its foundations, the second Temple, the life eternal, must be built. And so
we arrive at this result, that the Masonic Stone of Foundation, so conspicuous in the
degree of Select Master, is a symbol of Divine Truth, upon which all Speculative Masonry
is built; and the legends and traditions which refer to it are intended to describe, in an
allegorical way, the progress of truth in the soul, the search for which is a Mason's
labor; and the discovery of which is to be his reward.

SUPER EXCELLENT MASTER

In 598, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, captured the city and took
into captivity the King, Jehoiachin (Jeconiah). He replaced him on the throne with
Mathaniah, the youngest son of Josiah, and an uncle of the former King, who was but
twenty-one years old. Nebuchadnezzar changed Mathaniah's name twice, although the reasons
as to why are not clear. First to Mattaniah, which means "gift of Jehovah" and
then to Zedekiah, which signifies "Jehovah is righteous." As one of the
conditions of his enthronement, there was extracted from him a solemn oath to be subject
and loyal to his King and to Babylon. Being subjects of Babylon, naturally there were
powerful parties in court determined to throw off the yoke of the "barbarian"
ruler, and, in order to accomplish this, favored an alliance with Egypt. It is natural
that this palace clique and the priestly circle should favor Egypt. The civilizations of
the Nile was a dying one, but its rulers and its aristocracy were living in wealth and
luxury, blind to the ominous forces threatening their existence. The royal crowd of
Jerusalem was of like character, and attracted by the same glitter and pretense. Against
this royal party was arrayed the strength, courage, and oratory of Jeremiah of Anatoth,
the prophet, a descendant of one of the earlier High Priests of the Jews, and a small
group of followers, who advised submission to Babylon as the only means of preserving
national entity, and claimed for his position that he had direct command, and approval of
Jehovah himself. Into this maelstrom of contending and conflicting forces was plunged a
young man of twenty-one, immature, inexperienced, over-shadowed for years by his princely
relatives, lacking in strength of character and resolution. To be sure, at times he showed
an inclination to follow the voice of the prophet, but it was an inclination which he did
not have the strength and resolution to pursue through to the bitter end, in the face of
intrigues, and the influence of royal favorites. The story of his struggle with Jeremiah,
his yielding to him on occasion, his later stiffening of his neck in opposition to him,
his punishment of him, and of the conflict between Jeremiah and the petty dignitaries of
the court, is a fascinating one, and it gains much in its appeal as it is portrayed in the
degree of Super Excellent Master.